Cotton harvesting machines having an on-board cotton module building capability, also known as a cotton packager, include a cotton compacting chamber in which the compacted cotton module is built, formed by a floor and upstanding walls. Supported within this cotton compacting chamber is cotton compactor apparatus supported for vertical upward and downward movement for compacting cotton received in the chamber into the lower region thereof, for forming the module. It is important for the thus formed cotton module to have a cohesive, unitary composition which will be free standing when unloaded from the cotton compacting chamber, and which will remain substantially intact when subsequently handled. In particular, it is desirable for the upstanding sides of the thus formed compacted cotton module to be firm and relatively smooth to facilitate the subsequent handling, and also the removal of the module from the compacting chamber.
As a result, it is desirable for the structure and driving apparatus supporting the compactor apparatus to be located outwardly or outside of the compacting chamber. Such support structure and driver apparatus could be located above the compactor apparatus. However, the overall height of cotton harvesting machines must be limited so as to be able to pass through storage building doorways and under bridges, utility lines, and other overhead obstructions when moving from field to field. Therefore, it is sought to provide support structure and actuating drivers outside of the side walls of the compacting chamber.
Reference in this regard, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,530,199 and 6,536,197, wherein driver apparatus for the movement of the compactor structure or apparatus include four fluid cylinders, arranged two on each side of the compacting chamber. Such cylinders are disclosed as being double cylinders, one of which is used to index the compactor apparatus upwardly as the height of the module is increased, and the other for moving the compactor apparatus downwardly from the indexed location against the cotton in the compacting chamber for compacting the cotton. However, one disadvantage of such an arrangement is the cost of such a large number of cylinders. Another problem is that since the compactor apparatus is movable upwardly and downwardly and is supported only by the rods of the cylinders, its vertical movement and position is dictated by the extending and contracting of the cylinder rods, resulting in movement which is not always even. This can be the result of numerous conditions, including that the hydraulic fluid does not reach the cylinders simultaneously such that even vertical movement does not take place. This results in cotton modules which are uneven in height front-to-rear or side-to-side, or both.
Thus, what is sought is support and driver apparatus for cotton compactor apparatus for a module builder, which overcomes one or more of the disadvantages and problems set forth above.